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David Geller was born in 1929 in Zhmerynka. During the war he evacuated to Central Asia, first to Tashkent and then to Shymkent. After the war, he returned to Zhmerynka, but soon moved to Kiev, where he worked in a factory. In 1950 he was drafted into the army, served for three years, and then settled in Bratslav, where his wife was from.

Current Video: Bratslav Matchmaking

Recognizing the hardships and difficulties that returning soldiers and evacuees encountered, many remember the postwar years as the best years of their lives. It was a time of rebuilding and renewal, both literally and metaphorically.

Dovid Geller returned from evacuation in Baku to Zhmerynka, where he lived with his aunts for a few years. He moved to Kiev in 1947 to continue his training as a lathe operator. However, he was drafted into the military in 1950, and served for three years in the Far East. When he finally returned to Zhmerynka again, now five years after the end of the war, he found that there was no life for him in the city; he left instead for Bratslav, where he moved in with his brother. There, he met his wife, Sime-Leye Dikkerman, and it was love at first sight.